


Stone Enclosures

by Lassarina



Category: Final Fantasy XII
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-02
Updated: 2011-01-02
Packaged: 2017-10-14 08:25:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/147299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lassarina/pseuds/Lassarina
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Basch has sworn fealty, and he will follow Princess Ashelia anywhere, even into the dark dank hells that lie beneath the earth.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stone Enclosures

The maw of the Zertinan Caverns yawns wide before them, a gaping black abyss that rends the Ozmone Plain asunder. Basch eyes it with trepidation. Beneath, there will be the close, crushing weight of earth all around. He has ever been a man for the out-of-doors, despite the cold in Landis and the heat in Dalmasca, but since Nalbina he has been unable to tolerate enclosed spaces at all.

Princess Ashelia is impatient, discussing the terms of the Mark they are to hunt avidly with War-Chief Supinelu. Basch forces himself to concentrate on their conversation; not only does it distract him, but he dares not go unprepared into a battle where the Princess risks her life. Inattention could be lethal to either of them, and Basch will not fail her.

Penelo runs ahead, her footsteps light, and the burst of light from her Fira spells brings the rest of them hurrying behind. In the heat and the light, Basch can almost pretend he is aboveground, blessed with the warmth of the sun.

Balthier and Princess Ashelia hurry forward to assist Penelo, leaving Basch in the rearguard with Vaan and Fran. As they move forward, fighting their way through the beasts that plague the caverns, Basch finds it harder to breathe. The stone crushes inward on him, a suffocating blackness that steals the very air from his lungs. Though the cavern is cooler than the plains, and Penelo's spells far enough ahead that their warmth does not trouble him, an icy sweat coats his skin. He has not felt so sick since the mountain-fever he contracted not long before Landis fell; his stomach churns and he must swallow back bile.

He wants to turn tail and run.

He clenches his sword-hand into a fist until his nails, short though they are, dig into his skin. The pain is a faint distraction, but it will have to suffice. Princess Ashelia has asked this of him, and though he wishes she would not, he is sworn to her. He will not be made an oathbreaker by his own chosen actions. Neither can he ask her if he may stay behind, for he cannot protect her thus.

He realizes he has stopped only when Fran stops beside him. Her expression is difficult to read, but he thinks he sees sympathy there.

"Are you well?" she asks, and like her face, her voice is utterly neutral.

"I will perform my duties," he says. It is not the answer to her question, but it is an answer, and he thinks she will understand it as such.

One of her ears flicks. "We do what we must," she says, and he recalls that Balthier said she hates to be bound. She does not reach out, as Penelo might, but he senses the offer all the same. "If you require aid, simply speak." She walks ahead, her bow in her hand, sensitive ears swiveling in search of any hint of hidden monsters.

There is nothing for it but to go onward, so Basch puts one foot before the other, and steps in to spell Penelo when spellwork has made her weary. While he acts, it is somewhat easier; if he thinks only of the need to protect Princess Ashelia, he can pretend they are but in a training hall, not a sunken cavern that could fall in upon him at the slightest provocation.

Later, when they emerge into Ozmone once more, he is at last able to take a deep breath without the iron bands of fear constricting his chest.

Nothing he can experience in this life will ever feel as good as the moment when stone enclosures give way to simple sunlight and open air.


End file.
